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PAUPERISM  IN  GREAT  CITIES : ■ 


THE  DUTIES  WHICH  IT  IMPOSES,  WITH  SUGGESTIONS  FOR 

ITS  CURE. 


PR K ACHED  IN  THE 


THIRD  REFORMED  DUTCH  CHURCH, 

SUNDAY  EVENING,  JANUARY  11,  1857. 


OX  I5KHALF  OP  THE 


llorfjjerii  join t for  JfrienOlcss  Cljrfbreit, 


By  REV.  JOHN  JENKINS, 


MINISTER  OF  THE  CALVARY  PRESBY T BRIAN  C H U RCH. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

HENRY  B.  ASHMEAD,  BOOK  AND  JOB  PRINTER, 
GEORGE  STREET  ABOVE  ELEVENTH. 

1857. 


a .n  hv^  ^ 


% 


The  following  Discourse  was  not  written  with  a view  to  publication.  The 
Trustees  of  the  Institution  on  whose  behalf  it  was  delivered,  have  preferred  a 
request  for  the  manuscript  in  such  terms  as  the  author  could  not  reasonably 
disregard.  If  their  expectations  be  realized,  and  its  extensive  perusal  11  prove 
of  great  value  to  the  interests  of  their  growing  institution  and  of  the  commu- 
nity at  large,”  he  will  not  regret  having  yielded  his  own  judgment  to  theirs. 
Especially  will  he  rejoice  if  his  remarks  on  u Pauperism  in  Great  Cities  ” call 
forth  a practical  discussion  of  this  most  difficult  subject. 

January  22,  1857. 

<t 

j 

5 


f 


372225 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


https://archive.org/details/pauperismingreatOOjenk 


DISCOURSE. 


t 


A FATHER  OF  THE  FATHERLESS IS  God  IN  HIS  HOLY  HABITATION. — 

Psalm  lxviii.  5. 

Judge  the  fatherless. — Isaiah  i.  17, 

Oppress  not  the  fatherless. — Zechariah  vii.  10. 

Pure  religion  and  undefiled  before  God  and  the  Father  is  this  ; to  visit 
the  fatherless in  their  affliction. — James  i.  27. 


The  theory  of  religion  is  better  understood  than  its 
practice,  its  doctrines  than  its  laws.  No  less  true  is  it 
that  those  requirements  of  Christianity  which  relate 
directly  to  the  Creator,  are  more  intelligently  appre- 
ciated than  those  wrhich  relate  to  man.  These  facts,  by 
no  means  creditable  to  the  Christian  community,  are  not 
to  he  ascribed  to  any  lack  of  instruction  upon  these 
practical  questions  in  the  Bible,  but  rather  to  over- 
sight and  negligence  on  the  part  of  the  pulpit.  Those 
who  have  occupied  the  place  of  public  religious  teachers 
have  seemed  more  anxious  to  instruct  men  in  doctrines 
than  in  precepts ; to  excite  their  hearers  to  sectarian 
rivalry  rather  than  to  Christian  duty.  We  have  taken  a 
deep  interest  in  Creeds  and  Confessions,  and  have  over- 
looked that  which  is  the  fruit  of  faith — practical  obe- 
dience to  divine  law  : or  when  we  have  set  ourselves 
to  explain  Christian  obligations,  we  have  been  more 
ready  to  insist  upon  the  duty  of  prayer  and  Bible  read- 
ing and  communing,  than  upon  those  requirements 


6 


which  are  laid  upon  the  Christian  in  the  relations  which 
he  sustains  to  commerce,  to  society  and  to  the  family. 
This  is  a great  error,  and  it  calls  for  instant  correction. 
We  need  in  the  present  day  a ministry  that  will  go  forth 
and  tell  men  what  they  ought  to  do , as  well  as  what  they 
l ought  to  believe;  to  tell  them  their  obligations  to  their 
1 fellows,  as  well  as  their  duty  to  God. 

I have  intimated  that  there  is  no  lack  of  such  instruc- 
tions in  the  Bible.  You  can  scarcely  conceive  of  a rela- 
tion in  life  for  whose  most  minute  and  delicate  compli- 
cations the  code  of  Christianity  does  not  provide.  The 
politician  and  the  private  citizen,  the  ruler  and  the  gov- 
erned, the  merchant  and  the  mechanic,  the  master  and 
the  servant,  the  parent  and  the  child,  the  rich  and  the 
poor  may  find  in  Holy  Scripture  the  minutest  regulations 
for  the  discharge  of  their  several  duties. 

It  will  be  conceded  that  every  man,  that  is,  Christian 
man,  for  it  is  of  such  and  to  such  alone  that  we  now 
speak,  owes  obligations  to  society  which  he  cannot 
neglect  without  sin.  The  Creator  of  all  things  has  con- 
stituted society ; it  is  his  Providence  which  has  thrown 
men  together  and  placed  them  in  their  several  relations ; 
and  he  has  fixed  upon  the  human  community  this  law, 
^ “ No  man  liveth  to  himself.”  Such  is  the  influence  of 
mind  upon  mind,  of  character  upon  character,  and  such 
the  power  of  the  example  of  one  over  the  conduct  of  an- 
other, that  it  is  not  possible  for  a man  to  remain  unin- 
(fluential:  he  must  exert  an  influence,  if  not  for  good 
1 certainly  for  evil. 

It  will  be  conceded  that  the  requisitions  of  Chris- 
tianity from  men  in  their  social  relations,  depend  upon 
the  accidents  (using  the  word  in  a logical  sense)  of  life. 
That  there  are  duties,  for  example,  enforced  upon  parents, 


which  are  not  looked  for  from  children ; upon  masters, 
which  are  not  demanded  from  servants ; upon  the  rich, 
which  are  not  enjoined  upon  the  poor.  To'  present 
this  thought  in  another  form,  there  are  duties  from 
which  some  are  exempted,  neglect  of  which  by  others 
would  be  sin.  A child  might  not  inflict  punishment 
upon  a criminal  brother,  whereas  correction  for  the  fault 
would  be  incumbent  upon  their  common  parent.  An 
utterly  destitute  man  might  with  impunity  behold  a 
widow  or  an  orphan  in  the  depths  of  poverty  with- 
out affording  personal  relief ; but  for  a rich  man  to  do 
likewise  would  be  a grave  dereliction  of  duty.  We  owe 
social  obligations  then,  varying  according  to  the  several 
positions  which  we  sustain  and  to  the  differences  that 
may  exist  in  our  circumstances  and  relations.  This  is 
equal  to  saying  that  power  to  do  this  or  that — and  when 
I speak  of  “ power,”  I use  the  word  in  a comprehensive 
sense  as  including  authority,  ability  and  opportunity — 
presupposing  the  existence  of  a knowledge  of  law,  is  that 
standard  of  moral  obligation  by  which  man  will  be  here- 
after judged.  An  illustration  will  make  my  meaning 
clear : Here  are  two  men  of  wealth ; one  of  them  pro- 
poses to  leave  his  country  and  to  reside  in  another ; he 
sails  in  a ship  in  whose  hold  he  deposits  his  entire  pro- 
perty; a storm  arises,  she  is  driven  on  a desolate  island; 
of  all  the  voyagers  he  alone  is  saved.  He  begins  to  pro- 
vide for  his  sustenance,  wanders  along  the  shore  in 
search  of  food,  and  when  the  storm  subsides  repairs  to 
the  wreck ; his  treasures  of  silver  and  gold  remain  undis- 
turbed ; he  recovers  them,  and  is  as  rich  in  possessions 
as  he  ever  was ; but  who  will  say  that  this  man  is  under 
obligations  similar  to  those  which  Christianty  would  have 
demanded  had  Providence  permitted  him  to  fulfill  his 


8 


original  intention  of  residing  in  a populous  country?  In 
the  latter  case  the  law  of  Christ  would  require  him  to 
expend  his  substance  in  doing  good ; in  the  former,  he 
has  not  the  power  to  aid  a single  living  man,  and  he 
justly  claims  exemption  from  this  duty.  The  castaway 
will  be  judged  on  very  different  principles  from  those  of 
his  rich  neighbour  whom  he  left  behind  in  the  midst  of 
a large  and  needy  population;  or  more  correctly  they 
will  both  be  judged  on  one  general  principle,  a principle 
which  will  guide  every  final  decision  of  the  Judge  of 
all; — the  acceptance  of  a man  “ according  to  that  he 
hath,  [of  knowledge  of  power  of  opportunity,]  not 
according  to  that  he  hath  not.” 

These  general  principles  it  may  be  well  to  apply. 

I might  show  you  that  in  relation  to  the  world  at  large 
there  is  no  discovery,  geographical,  historical,  scientific ; 
no  new  development  of  idolatry  or  of  general  crime ; no 
new  information  respecting  the  wants  or  the  distresses 
of  a country,  which  does  not  impose  obligations,  the 
neglect  of  whose  discharge  by  us  would  be  morally 
wrong.  Let  me  give  you  an  example  from  a branch  of 
discovery  with  which,  perhaps,  we  would  be  least  likely 
to  connect  a Christian  duty.  The  Assyrian  researches  of 
^ Layard  created  the  duty  (which  rested  upon  every  man 
who  had  the  opportunity)  of  becoming  acquainted  with 
the  bearing  of  those  researches  upon  the  history,  and 
therefore  upon  the  evidences  of  the  Bible,  that  he  might 
be  the  better  able  to  defend  the  Christian  system 
against  the  attacks  of  infidels,  or  to  settle  the  doubts 
and  aid  the  investigations  of  persons  who  are  inquiring 
after  the  Truth.  An  earthquake  burying  its  thousands 
and  impoverishing  its  myriads;  a pestilence  or  a famine 
multiplying  the  number  and  the  distresses  of  widows 


{) 


and  orphans,  a war  between  two  nations  devastating* 
countries  and  destroying  armies,  create  duties ; — the 
duty  especially  of  practical  sympathy,  if  we  have  it  in 
our  power,  the  duty  at  least  of  exerting  influence  to 
alleviate  the  sufferings  of  general  humanity. 

I might  demonstrate  to  you,  in  like  manner,  that  in 
relation  to  one’s  country,  there  is  no  new  phase  of  its 
passing  history,  there  is  no  new  development  in  the 
sphere  of  national  morals,  there  is  no  wrong  committed 
towards  persons  or  classes  or  sections,  there  is  no  change 
of  principles  in  a political  party,  there  is  no  creation  of 
a new  one,  which  does  not  involve  the  discharge  by  the 
citizen  of  new  requirements.  Who  doubts  that  the 
republican  character  of  the  institutions  of  a land  whose 
political  creed  is  that  6t  all  men  are  equal,”  imposes  upon 
citizens  a duty  which  could  not  devolve  upon  the  sub- 
jects of  an  absolute  monarch?  That  the  acquisition  of 
territory,  or  the  reception  into  the  Union  of  a new  state 
lays  obligations  upon  every  citizen  (if  he  has  the  power,) 
to  advance  its  political  and  religious  interests? — Or  that 
the  existence  of  slavery,  with  its  confessedly  great  evils, 
does  not  lay  upon  Christian  citizens  everywhere  in  the 
land,  obligations  which  they  would  not  know  if  it  no 
longer  remained  an  incubus  and  a blot  upon  the  country? 

This  principle  will  hold  good  if  we  still  narrow  down 
the  sphere  of  our  observations  and  confine  them  to  the 
city,  to  the  circle  of  friendship,  or  to  the  family. 

But  I am  specially  desirous  at  this  time  to  show  you 
that  the  circumstances  of  the  city  in  which  we  live,  that 
every  new  feature  in  its  history,  that  every  changing 
phase  either  encouraging  or  otherwise,  of  the  morals 
and  condition  of  the  people,  call  for  the  discharge  of 
obligations  to  which  otherwise  you  would  be  strangers. 

9 


Tfie  drunkenness  of  the  city  imposes  upon  every  citizen 
the  necessity  of  exertions  on  his  part  to  diminish  the 
power  of  this  parent  vice.  The  profaneness  of  the  city 
requires  us  to  employ  every  means  within  our  individual 
ability  to  lessen  and  wipe  away  this  stain  upon  the 
population.  The  religious  destitution  of  certain  por- 
tions of  the  city  loudly  calls  upon  us  to  establish  Sabbath- 
schools  and  to  build  Missionary  churches.  Yea,  there 
is  not  a single  case  of  destitution,  there  is  not  an  indi- 
gent widow  or  an  unprotected  orphan  or  a sick  and  needy 
laborer,  whose  case  does  not  call  for  distinct  and  sepa- 
rate action — or  at  least  does  not  demand  individual 
efforts  to  relieve  or  to  seek  to  relieve  its  necessities. 

Especially  does  the  pauperism  of  this  city  impose 
upon  the  inhabitants  generally,  and  chiefly  upon  its 
Christian  inhabitants,  obligations  whose  instant  dis- 
charge is  imperative.  The  interests  of  humanity,  the 
morals  of  the  city,  the  progress  of  religion  among  the 
people,  are  intimately  associated  with  the  subject  of 
pauperism.  For  one,  I am  persuaded,  that  more  impor- 
tance should  be  attached  to  this  question,  than  to  any 
other  which  calls  for  the  consideration  and  action  of 
Philadelphians,  as  such.  I know  that  to  deal  with  pau- 
perism aright,  especially  in  populous  communities,  re- 
quires wisdom  integrity  and  resolution  on  the  part  of  the 
authorities  of  a city,  which  are  seldom  evinced,  and  which 
it  seems  scarcely  possible  to  secure  by  a popular  vote. 
But  surely  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia  ought  to  know 
to  what  we  are  tending  by  the  system  which  at  present 
prevails — a system  which  none  approve  but  those  whom 
it  enriches — a system  which  is  a premium  upon  idleness 
and  filth  and  crime.  I speak  not  here  of  the  enormous 
tax  which  the  system  imposes  upon  holders  of  property, 


11 


— this  is  a question  for  council  chambers  and  newspa- 
pers. Its  moral  aspects  only  belong  to  the  pulpit  and 
the  preacher,  and  to  my  mind  they  assume  a serious- 
ness and  a gravity  which  it  seems  difficult  to  describe 
and  even  to  appreciate.  The  speaker  is  a firm  believer 
in  the  doctrine  that  each  city  and  town  should  provide 
for  its  own  poor.  He  believes  that  the  amplest  relief 
should  be  extended  to  the  indigent  sick,  that  the  case 
of  indigent  lunatics  should  not  be  passed  by,  and  that 
some  means  should  be  devised  for  the  protection  of  poor 
widows,  and  for  the  withdrawing  of  the  fatherless  and 
the  orphan  from  the  debasing  influence  of  pauperism. 
The  sick,  the  lunatic,  the  widow  usually,  and  the  or- 
phan, come  not  under  the  class  of  “ paupers.”  They  are 
poor — involuntarily  poor,  and  their  condition  is  to  be 
traced  up  to  the  arrangements  of  a Providence,  which, 
while  they  are  eminently  bountiful,  are  at  the  same  time 
deeply  mysterious.  But  these  are  a small  proportion,  com- 
paratively, of  those  who  are  thrown  year  by  year  upon 
the  voluntary  or  involuntary  bounties  of  citizens.  The 
mass  of  the  relieved  in  that  gigantic  pile  which  over- 
shadows the  western  portion  of  Philadelphia,  are  the 
slaves  of  indolence,  and  they  are  nourished  in  this  crime 
by  the  system  which  is  perpetuated,  if  not  purposely 
persisted  in  by  those  who  have  been  entrusted  with  the 
civic  government.  Where  there  exists  an  institution 
into  which  able  bodied  men  and  women,  in  any  number, 
are  introduced  and  fed  and  warmed  and  clothed  month 
by  month,  winter  after  winter,  without  being  required  to 
labor,  there  will  never  be  wanting  a sufficient  number  of 
individuals  to  fill  it — a sufficient  number  willing  to  de- 
grade themselves  by  voluntary  dependence  upon  others. 
It  cramps  the  energies,  and  blunts  the  enterprise,  and 


demoralizes  the  aims,  and  destroys  the  provident  fore- 
thought of  a large  class  amongst  us,  to  know  that  how- 
ever reckless  of  expenditure  they  may  be  in  the  months 
of  summer,  that  however  given  to  drunkenness  and  other 
no  less  pernicious  vices,  an  extravagant  city  will  feed 
and  clothe  and  house  and  nurse  them  in  slothfulness  for 
a whole  winter.  This  prospect  it  is  which  rivets  families 
of  the  very  poor  class  to  our  large  eastern  cities,  and  their 
unfortunate  children  perpetuate  among  us  the  pernicious 
habits  which  they  acquire  from  their  indolent  parents. 

Now  if  it  were  well  understood  by  our  poor  that  no 
unremunerated  relief  would  be  available  in  summer  or 
winter,  except  for  the  infirm  adult  and  the  friendless 
child,  but  that  every  one  competent  to  execute  a day’s 
work  would  be  required  to  do  so  on  pain  of  punishment, 
that  idleness  persisted  in  w ould  be  treated  as  a crime 
against  the  State  and  visited  with  imprisonment,  then 
not  only  would  these  pauperized  families  be  compelled 
to  go  out  into  the  western  portions  of  the  country  and  to 
seek  for  labor,  but  the  pauper  institutions  of  the  city 
would  become  self-sustaining,  if  not  remunerative.  The 
example  which  has  been  set  by  New  Haven,  might  be 
advantageously  followed  by  the  more  populous  Eastern 
cities.  In  that  city,  the  pauper  establishment  has  been 
more  than  self-sustaining.  Farming  and  horticultural 
pursuits  have  been  successfully  carried  on,  and  the  citi- 
zens have  been  relieved  from  a financial  burden  which 
presses  upon  other  cities ; while  they  have  checked,  by 
their  wise  measures,  the  progress  of  an  evil  which  is  a 
blight  and  a curse  upon  almost  every  other  large  com- 
munity in  the  country.  Every  Christian  and  every 
philanthropist  has  a duty  to  discharge  in  relation  to  our 
almshouse  system,  and  that  is  to  break  it  up;  to  produce 


IB 


the  most  radical  change  in  its  measures  and  in  its  plans : 
for  the  pauperism  which  it  engenders  is  a source  to  the 
city  of  ignorance,  of  filthiness,  of  intemperance,  and  every 
other  vileness  and  crime  : it  taints  the  whole  city,  it 
stays  the  progress  of  education,  it  cripples  the  success 
of  moral  and  religious  effort,  and  it  communicates  its 
terrible  evils  to  families  and  neighborhoods,  which  but 
for  its  existence,  would  he  characterized  by  at  least 
ordinary  thrift  and  comfort. 

/ There  is  another  duty  which  the  pauperism  of  the 
city  imposes  upon  citizens,  namely,  the  most  resolute  absti- 
nence from  indiscriminate  almsgiving.  This,  I am  per- 
suaded, is  the  most  fruitful  of  all  the  causes  of  pauperism. 
The  individual  citizen  who  bestows  charity  upon  the 
beggar  in  the  street  or  at  the  door,  without  taking  the 
trouble  to  inquire  into  the  merits  of  the  applicant,  inflicts 
a serious  moral  and  religious  injury  upon  the  city  in 
which  he  resides,  and  is  responsible,  in  no  less  measure 
than  they  wTho  support  the  almshouse  system,  for  the 
perpetuation  and  increase  of  this  great  civic  curse.  If 
it  were  generally  understood  among  the  poor,  that 
no  relief  would  be  afforded  to  any  street  beggar  by 
the  respectable  inhabitants  of  the  city,  those  paupers 
who  now  subsist  upon  the  door-to-door  system,  would 
be  constrained  in  most  cases  to  rely  upon  their  own 
resources,  or  to  repair  to  other  cities.  Will  not  our  citi- 
zens see  this  to  be  greatly  to  their  interest  ? Will  they 
not  understand  that  the  systems  of  relief  which  now 
prevail  will  in  a short  time  bring  ruin  upon  the  whole 
community  ? I know  not  to  what  results  the  pauper 
statistics  of  Philadelphia  and  Pennsylvania  wTould  lead, 
but  I imagine  that  so  far  at  least  as  Philadelphia  is  con- 
cerned, they  would  not  greatly  differ  from  those  of  the 


14 


State  of  New  York.  There  I find  that  in  1831  there  was 
one  pauper  to  every  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  per- 
sons ; that  in  1841  there  was  one  pauper  to  every  thirty- 
nine  persons;  and  that  in  1851  there  was  one  pauper  to 
every  twenty-four  persons ! Should  the  same  ratio  con- 
tinue fifteen  years  longer  there  will  be  in  the  State  of 
New  York  (not  the  city)  one  pauper  to  every  five  per- 
sons ! ! A startling  result,  and  one  which  imperatively 
demands  the  most  strenuous  interference  on  the  part 
of  intelligent  citizens  both  Christian  and  simply  philan- 
thropic. 

There  is  another  obligation  which  the  pauperism  of 
the  city  lays  upon  the  Christian  community,  and  that  is 
the  support  of  those  great  voluntary  institutions  which 
have  been  established  among  us  for  the  discriminating 
relief  of  the  poor  and  friendless.  These  institutions 
are  valuable  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  scrutiny 
with  which  their  operations  are  conducted — valuable  as 
tending  to  a diminution  of  the  evil  whose  cure  every  one 
of  us  most  earnestly  desires.  I need  not  enumerate 
these  institutions  or  applaud  either  their  patrons  or  their 
managers ; they  are  known  far  and  near,  their  praise  is 
everywhere  spoken  of,  their  acts  of  charity  and  self- 
denial  have  gone  up  before  heaven  with  acceptance,  and 
have  been  rich  in  beneficial  results  to  thousands  of  sick 
and  otherwise  distressed  poor.  But  there  is  a class  of 
institutions  which  demand  from  us,  in  this  connection, 
earnest  consideration.  I refer  to  the  “ homes  for  friend- 
less children ,”  which  have  been  established  in  our  city. 
Here  it  seems  to  me  we  are  beginning  to  meet  the  diffi- 
culty which  the  great  question  of  the  extermination  of 
pauperism  has  so  long  presented  to  us.  These  “ homes,” 
could  they  be  sufficiently  enlarged  or  multiplied,  would 


diminish,  to  an  almost  incredible  extent,  this  monstrous 
evil.  No  able-bodied  pauper  is  fit  to  be  entrusted  with 
the  management  of  his  children,  and  could  we  but  with- 
draw them  while  they  are  young  from  the  pernicious 
influence  which  surrounds  them,  pauperism  could  no 
longer  be  propagated  in  the  community  ; it  might  be  in- 
troduced from  other  countries,  but  it  could  not  be  repro- 
duced to  any  great  extent  in  the  United  States.  This  is 
what  is  being  done  in  this  city  and  in  New  York  by  in- 
stitutions similar  to  that  whose  interests  have  convened 
us  this  evening;  and  with  every  feeling  of  friendship 
towards  our  sister  institution  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  city,  with  all  admiration  of  the  efficient  manner  in 
which  it  is  conducted,  and  with  the  fullest  appreciation 
of  the  great  benefits  which  it  confers  upon  the  commu- 
nity, we  yet  claim  for  The  Northern  Home  a high  place 
in  the  consideration,  in  the  liberalities,  in  the  affections 
and,  let  me  add,  in  the  prayers  of  the  Christian  com- 
munity. 

Reflect  for  a moment  or  two  upon  the  fact  that  a large 
number  of  our  adult  street-beggars  have  been  engaged  in 
this  miserable  calling  from  their  youth.  The  little  girls 
and  boys  av ho  noAV  Avait  at  our  back-doors  from  day  to 
day,  and  Avho  assail  every  respectable  person  that  walks 
our  streets,  are  the  future  adult  beggars  of  the  city. 
They  acquire  the  habit  of  begging ; they  are  taught  that 
it  is  more  easy  and  indeed  more  lucrative  to  beg  than  to 
work,  as  unfortunately  it  is  made  to  be  by  the  indiscrimi- 
nate liberality  of  our  citizens,  and  this  habit  and  opinion 
cleave  to  them,  until  having  arrived  at  mature  age,  they 
live  and  die  in  beggary  and  want,  and  sink  doAvn  hope- 
lessly into  the  grave.  Some  of  these  young  beggars  are 
orphans,  or  foundlings,  or  children  Avho  have  been  stolen, 


and  they  are  sent  out  into  the  streets  to  shiver  and  to  beg 
for  their  masters  and  mistresses,  those  beggar  lords  and 
ladies  who  sit  in  comfort  and  laziness,  and  eat  and  drink 
luxuriously  in  their  filthy  homes.  Others  of  them  are 
children  of  these  unnatural  parents,  whose  only  care  for 
them  and  of  them  is  excited  by  the  most  selfishly  lowr 
considerations ; for  were  it  not  for  their  pauper  street- 
earnings,  they  would  be  abandoned  and  allowed  to  perish. 
It  is  sometimes  asked,  “Can  it  be  right  to  sever,  even  in 
these  circumstances,  children  from  their  parents?”  Our 
reply  is  that  in  every  natural  and  moral  aspect,  these 
little  ones  are  without  father  and  without  mother.  Will 
you  tell  me  that  that  little  girl  who  is  kept  by  her  parents 
to  beg  for  their  support,  who  is  kept  only  for  this,  who  is 
cruelly  beaten  when  she  is  not  successful,  and  is  treated 
to  liquor  when  she  takes  home  large  gains, — will  you  tell 
me  that  such  a child  is  not  fatherless  ? — is  not  an  orphan  ? 
Yea,  verily,  her  father  and  her  mother  have  forsaken  her. 
If  some  persons  are  so  incredulous  as  to  doubt  the  exist- 
* ence  of  such  cases  of  unnaturalness,  of  worse  than  bru- 
tality, on  the  part  of  parents,  I have  only  to  refer  them 
to  the  records  of  this  Association.  Here  to  the  shame 
of  our  common  and,  be  it  said,  noble  humanity,  will  be 
found  examples  of  parental  dereliction  and  degradation 
far  deeper  and  more  appalling  than  anything  which  I 
have  mentioned  this  evening.  You  can  find  here  the 
proofs  that  “a  mother  may  forget  her  sucking  child,” 
and  that  a child  can  have  parents  and  yet  be  an  orphan. 
What  is  to  be  done  with  these  children?  We  say, 
wherever  you  have  the  opportunity  rescue  them  from 
the  pernicious  influence  and  example  and  habits  which 
now  enthral  and  threaten  to  destroy  them ; give  them 
the  blessings  of  cleanliness,  of  intercourse  with  other 


17 


children,  of  religious  as  well  as  moral  instruction,  and,  as 
soon  as  it  can  be  done,  send  them  into  Christian  families 
to  be  indentured  or  adopted,  and  so  trained  to  be  useful 
and  respectable  men  and  women,  and  to  be  by  the  grace 
of  God  earnest  and  devoted  Christians.  This  is  pre- 
cisely what  “ The  Home”  is  doing.  Who  will  say  that  it 
is  not  a legitimate,  yea,  holy  work  to  pluck  up  these 
young  neglected  degraded  creatures  from  the  pit  into 
which  their  parents  have  cast  them  to  struggle  in  the 
mire  of  pauperism  ? I would  extend  this  system ; I 
would  fill  the  institutions  which  at  present  exist,  and  I 
would  then  multiply  them  until  this  element  of  our 
social  city  life  shall  become  entirely  absorbed. 

I think  I have  shown  you  with  a clearness  sufficient 
to  produce  conviction,  that  as  citizens  merely,  you 
have  a duty  to  discharge  in  relation  to  this  Home ; that 
your  individual  interests  as  property' -holders  should  lead 
to  its  liberal  support  by  you;  that  anything  likely  to 
check,  though  it  should  be  in  only  a small  degree,  the 
pauperism  of  this  great  city  should  be  thoroughly  sus- 
tained. 

But  there  is  a Christian  aspect  in  which  I desire  to 
place  before  you  this  merciful  institution. 

In  the  first  place,  the  cause  of  the  orphan  and  other- 
wise friendless  child  is  the  cause  of  religion — of  the  reli- 
gion which  you  profess.  It  is  inseparably  associated 
with  every  phase  and  form  of  true  Christianity.  Yea,  it 
belonged  to  the  system  of  religion  which  preceded  Chris- 
tianity, and  of  which  it  was  the  precursor.  I know  not  how 
it  has  struck  you,  but  me  it  has  deeply  impressed  that  no 
class  of  duties  was  more  urgently  enforced  by  the  Jewish 
prophets,  and  that  no  negligence  of  duty  was  more  se- 
verely denounced,  than  that  which  related  to  the  care 


18 


and  the  relief  of  the  widow  and  the  fatherless.  The 
passages  into  which  this  subject  is  introduced,  are  very 
numerous  : — “ Thy  princes  are  rebellious,”  exclaims  the 
son  of  Amoz,  “and  companions  of  thieves;  every  one 
loveth  gifts  and  followeth  after  rewards ; they  judge  not 
the  fatherless,  neither  doth  the  cause  of  the  widow  come 
unto  them.”  His  exhortation,  too,  in  connection  with 
the  promise  of  pardon  is  very  striking : “ Wash  you, 
make  you  clean;  put  away  the  evil  of  your  doings  from 
before  mine  eyes : cease  to  do  evil;  learn  to  do  well;  seek 
judgment,  relieve  the  oppressed,  judge  the  fatherless, 
plead  for  the  widow.”  “Wo  unto  them  that  take  away 
the  right  from  the  poor  of  my  people,”  he  again  cries 
out,  “ that  widows  may  be  their  prey,  and  that  they  may 
rob  the  fatherless.”  Jeremiah  is  still  more  severe  : 
“ They  overpass  the  deeds  of  the  wicked,  they  judge 
not  the  cause  of  the  fatherless.”  But  I need  not  multi- 
ply quotations  ; you  know,  your  very  instincts  tell  you, 
that  it  is  irreligious  to  neglect  the  suffering,  and  espe- 
cially the  helpless  suffering.  “ Pure  religion  and  unde- 
filed before  God  and  the  Father  is” — what  ? — not  or- 
thodoxy— not  order — not  show — not  a loud  profession — 
not  a name  for  wealth,  for  endowments — not  many  and 
long  prayers, — No  ! but  “ to  visit  the  fatherless  and  the 
widows  in  their  affliction.”  Godlike  religion ! for  “ a 
father  of  the  fatherless,  and  a judge  of  the  widow,  is 
God  in  his  holy  habitation.”  Godlike,  indeed ! for 
when  the  father  and  the  mother  of  a child  “ forsake  it, 
then  the  Lord  takes  it  up.” 

There  are  in  this  city,  thousands  of  deserted  children, 
and  no  man  till  lately  has  cared  for  them.  Now,  the 
religion  of  the  city  begins  to  assume  the  divine  model, 
and  to  take  up  into  its  arms  forsaken  children.  The 


19 


Christian  women  of  the  city  have  gone  out  after  them, 
and  now  in  this  single  Institution,  there  are  nearly  one 
hundred  little  ones,  rescued  from  indigent  and  indifferent 
and  slothful  and  vicious  parents.  Or  if  they  have  no 
parents,  rescued  from  the  baser  and  more  pernicious 
example  of  wicked  patrons,  who  only  keep  them  for 
purposes  of  gain.  We  will  suppose  these  precious  chil- 
dren destitute  of  this  home : Where  now  would  be  those 
infants  that  have  been  left  on  the  commons  or  the  va- 
cant lots,  to  perish  in  the  cold?  Where  now  would  be 
those  children  whose  parents  have  had  to  suffer  the  pen- 
alty of  civil  law  for  crime  ? Where  now  would  be  those 
bright  little  ones  who  have  been  adopted  by  Christian 
men  and  Christian  ladies  in  different  parts  of  the  coun- 
try, and  are  now  enjoying  the  blessings  of  civilized  life, 
of  social  intercourse,  and  of  Christian  education  ? Where 
now  would  be  those  children  who  have  been  apprenticed 
to  various  callings,  and  who  will  mostly  grow  up  to  ha- 
bits of  industry,  many  of  them  to  wealth  ? Where  now 
would  be  the  scores  of  children  who  have  this  day  en- 
joyed the  blessings  of  the  Sabbath  in  yonder  “Home?” — 
who  in  cleanliness  and  comfort,  have  sung  together 
praises,  to  which  heretofore  their  lips  and  their  ears 
have  been  wholly  strangers. — have  “ sung  of  heaven  and 
# learned  the  way”  to  that  blessed  world  ? Where  ? — In 
the  hovels  of  your  city-beggars,  surrounded  by  intox- 
icated beasts  in  the  form  of  men  and  women,  listening  to 
profaneness  of  the  basest  kind,  and  observing  the  com- 
mission of  crimes  whose  very  mention  would  appall  you. 
Where  ? — In  the  streets,  at  your  doors  begging — lying 
— swearing — corrupting  those  bright,  elegantly  attired 
children  whom  you  send  out  for  exercise  and  for  air. 
Where? — Swelling  the  vast  aggregate  of  pauperism 


20 

which  threatens  to  dry  up  the  financial  and  moral  re- 
sources of  the  city.  Praise  God,  for  a religion  which 
teaches  us  the  laws  of  kindness,  and  which  commands 
us  to  care  for  the  children  who  are  forsaken ! It  is  the 
Lord  who  has  taken  up  these  little  children.  You  are 
hut  instruments  whom  he  employs  to  do  his  work ; He 
put  it  into  your  hearts  to  go  out  after  them ; He  put  it 
into  your  hearts  to  build  that  beautiful  house  and  to  in- 
vest it  with  the  brightness  and  the  beauty  and  the  com- 
fort of  a Christian  home ; He  put  it  into  the  hearts  of 
your  patrons  to  aid  you  in  this  labor  of  love,  and  He  will 
still  support  you  and  sustain  you  and  encourage  you 
and  bless  you  in  your  work — in  His  work  rather — His 
work — it  is  His,  not  yours ; and  it  must  and  will  be  car- 
ried on. 

There  is  another  Christian  aspect  of  this  work  : I refer 
to  the  direct  personal  religious  instructions  which  these 
children  receive.  I know  how  young  they  are  when  they 
leave  you  for  their  new  homes ; but  who  shall  say  how 
much  may  not  be  accomplished,  even  in  these  early  years, 
in  relation  to  the  subject  of  personal  godliness  ? Who 
will  say  that  the  grain  of  mustard  seed,  deposited  in  the 
youthful  mind,  and  committed  to  the  keeping  of  God, 
shall  not  by-and-by  vegetate  and  bring  forth?  And 
then  these  children,  as  far  as  possible,  are  placed  under, 
moral  influences  after  they  leave  “ the  Home” — and  they 
are  followed  by  the  prayers  of  these  Christian  women, 
wTho  have  labored  to  rescue  them  from  vice  and  idleness 
and  beggary.  The  love  of  souls , then,  should  constrain 
you  to  lend  a helping  hand  to  this  institution,  and  to 
send  up  to  heaven  earnest  supplications  for  its  success. 
But  you  need  only  go  to  this  Home,  and  visit  it,  and  see 
for  yourselves  this  great  work,  to  induce  you  to  contri- 
bute liberally  towards  its  support. 


21 


I wish  I could  read  to  you  the  minutes  of  “the  commit- 
tee of  admission”  from  the  beginning  to  the  end.  It  has 
given  me  such  a view  of  the  importance  of  this*  work,  as 
I could  not  otherwise  have  obtained.  You  must  allow 
me  to  supply  an  extract  under  date,  July  15th,  1856. 
“M.  W.,  a relative  of  J.  D.,  released  him  to  the 
managers  by  virtue  of  a special  resolution  of  the  com- 
mittee, at  a previous  meeting.  She  stated  her  utter 
inability  to  support  the  child,  and  that  unless  we  were 
willing  to  receive  it  into  the  Institution  she  would  leave 
it  on  some  stranger’s  door-step.  It  was  expressly  stated 
to  her,  before  agreeing  to  receive  her  boy,  that  we  would 
probably  have  him  immediately  adopted  by  a person  at 
a distance,  and  she  would  never  again,  in  that  event, 
have  an  opportunity  of  seeing  him.  She  willingly  agreed 
to  the  arrangement,  and  released  him.  On  the  same 
afternoon  Mrs.  P.,  of  S.  County,  Virginia,  applied  to 
adopt  the  child ; she  was  accompanied  by  Dr.  K.  of  this 
city,  whose  application  on  her  behalf  had  been  decided 
favourably.  J.  D.  was  sent  in  the  morning  to  the  Girard 
House  where  Mrs.  P.  was  stopping.  On  the  next 
morning  she  left  for  Virginia  with  her  adopted  son.” 

“ Since  then  the  most  satisfactory  information  has  been 
received  of  the  welfare  of  the  child,  and  the  increasing 
^interest  which  is  taken  in  it  by  both  its  foster  parents.” 

I will  not  extend  these  quotations.  The  merits  of 
this  scheme  are  fully  known,  and  the  Christian  managers 
and  trustees  of  this  “ Home  for  Friendless  Children,”  cast 
themselves  upon  the  Christian  sympathy  and  the  gene- 
rous bounty  of  their  friends.  I am  no  beggar.  I should 
be  ashamed  to  beg.  I am  here  to  show  you  what  is 
your  duty  to  God  in  this  matter.  I am  here  to  tell  you 
that  if  you  are  created  in  the  image  of  God  by  the  Spirit 


22 


of  regeneration,  you  have  a heart  and  a will  to  help 
those  whom  God  helps,  and  in  whom  he  takes  so  special 
an  interest.  I am  here  to  entreat  you  to  be  “ merciful 
as  your  Father  in  Heaven  is  merciful.”  I am  here  to 
teach  you  that  as  God  is  the  Father  of  the  friendless 
child,  you  too  ought  to  become  its  father  and  its  friend. 
I am  here  to  assure  you  that  what  you  contribute  to- 
night for  this  cause,  is  not  given  but  lent, — lent  to  the 
Lord,  with  a promise  under  his  own  hand  that  he  will 
pay  it  again.  God  has  blessed  you,  my  hearers ; he  has 
not  left  your  children  friendless. — Look  at  them  as  they 
sit  round  your  table,  and  as  they  adorn  and  beautify  the 
domestic  and  social  circle — like  flowers  in  a green-house ; 
look  at  them  amply  fed  and  clothed,  elevated  by  educa- 
tion and  refinement,  cheered  and  brightened  by  friend- 
ship; and  then,  think  of  these  wanderers  of  our  city — 
these  children  of  want — and  say  whether  they  shall  be 
left  in  their  destitution  to  become  a curse  to  the  city 
and  at  last  to  go  down  to  death,  eternal  death ! God 
has  blessed  you — many  of  you — with  wealth : tell  me  an 
object  which  calls  for  your  present  liberalities  more 
divine  than  this ; tell  me  a feature  in  the  religion  of 
Christ  more  Godlike  than  that  of  visiting  the  widow,  the 
fatherless  and  the  friendless.  Shall  these  friends  plead 
in  vain  ? I hope  you  will  not  allow  the  cause  to  suffer 
from  any  defect  in  the  nature  or  earnestness  of  the 
appeal  of  him  whom  they  have  selected  to  be  their  advo- 
cate, but  that  this  evening  the  Institution  will  receive 
from  you  that  support  which  its  growing  necessities 
demand.  Do  not  be  afraid  to  give  to  a cause  which 
commends  itself  to  all  denominations  of  Christians,  and 
to  every  religious  heart.  Do  not  shrink  from  giving  by 
hundreds; — give  it  a place,  too,  in  your  wills,  that 


23 


children,  when  you  lie  rotten  in  the  grave,  may  call  you 
blessed.  “Forasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of 
the  least  of  these,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me.”  * 

I cannot  dismiss  you  without  a direct  reference  to  the 
matter  of  personal  religion.  I have  been  pleading  the 
cause  of  the  fatherless  and  the  friendless.  My  hearers, 
are  you  the  children  of  grace — are  you  regenerated  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  ? — have  you  made  your  peace  with  God, 
and  does  he  now  accept  you  ? If  not,  you  are  orphans, 
and  have  no  friend;  you  are  wandering  about  without 
a home  — destitute  and  in  rags.  — 0 thou  prodigal! 
Come ! come  to  the  home  which  has  been  prepared  for 
thee — a home  for  a friendless  sinner,  such  as  thou  art ! — 
A kind  reception  awaits  thee — a hearty  pardon — a new 
dress — sufficient  food — a home,  the  Church — and  by- 
and-by  a second  home,  another  adoption  into  the  home  of 
angels  and  of  God.  Whither  art  thou  going?  Art  thou, 
like  one  of  those  destitute  children,  wandering  hopelessly 
through  time  and  the  world  ? hast  thou  not  a Father  in 
heaven  ? hast  thou  no  delight  in  a father  s smile  ? no  joy 
in  a father’s  walk  as  he  takes  his  children  by  the  hand 
and  leads  them  forth?  Why  should  it  be  so?  God  is 
ready  to  become  thy  Father; — God  is  ready  to  receive 
thee  into  his  own  arms,  and  to  take  thee  up  to  inter- 
course and  fellowship  and  sonship  into  his  own  divine 
bosom. 


foa  tljc  '§entkknt  public. 


The  Northern  Home  for  Friendless  Children  is  very 
much  in  need  of  funds  to  carry  on  its  highly  salutary 
charitable  work ; especially  so,  as  the  City  Councils  have 
reduced  their  annual  appropriation  to  one-half  the  amount 
received  in  previous  years,  in  consequence  of  the  em- 
barrassed condition  of  the  finances  of  the  City. 

The  Managers  appreciate  and  most  gratefully  acknow- 
ledge, the  liberal  aid  which  they  have  heretofore  received 
from  many  of  our  citizens.  They  believe  that  there  is 
no  Institution  in  this  community,  that  has  a firmer  place 
in  the  affections  of  all  classes  than  their  own : and  they 
are  conscious  of  employing  their  humble  efforts,  and  ap- 
propriating the  contributions  they  receive,  in  the  most 
judicious  manner  and  for  the  best  interests  of  the  help- 
less, friendless  little  children,  which  are  the  special  ob- 
jects of  their  care. 

Contributions  and  subscriptions  are  respectfully  and 
earnestly  solicited.  They  may  be  sent  to 

THOMAS  EARP,  President, 

North-east  corner  Seventh  and  Arch  Streets. 

JOHN  W.  CLAGHORN,  Treasurer, 

No.  383  Arch  above  Tenth  Street, — or  to 

McGREGOR  J.  MITCHESON,  Secretary  and  Counsel, 

No.  152  Walnut  Street  below  Sixth,  or  Coates  west  of  Fifteenth  Street. 


■ 

- 


« 


BROWN  AND  TWENTY-THIRD  STREETS. 


••  When  my  father  and  my  mother  forsake  me.  then  the  Lord  will  take  me  up.  ’ 

Psalm  xxvii.  10. 


' 


